Stolen trains--Wheeling WV Kruger Street Toy and Train

Did it look like thieves with little knowledge took what they thought were the high value "name" items, and therefore ignored the Marx?  A lot of unknowledgable people

just think "Lionel" when somebody says "electric trains".  Probably ticks off Mike Wolf,

and would have Gilbert and Louis Marx.

Prison...Dennis?  How about if they just make him pay $50 to TCA???

Sorry Hot Water, I'm not as smart A-S as you. maybe when you are 85 you might make a mistake.

RON, He or she will probably take a table in the blue hall and sell them.

Best story I know like this involves a friend of mine who owned a Porsche in the early '70s.  Someone stole the motor, so he called a tow truck to tow his car to the dealer.  When the tow truck arrived, the thieves were at the dealer trying to sell a Porsche motor.  Duh

Just wondering how you would identify a stolen train unless it was labeled in some way?

Did they have some kind of identifier?

franktrain

HEY EDDIE...I respect my ELDERS!!!  Some of these guys will be lucky to live as long as YOU...I salute you EDDIE!!! Those guys on the other thread with all the guns may want to invest in protective headgear so they won't hit their heads crawling out from under their beds when their WIVES yell an ALL CLEAR!!! Ron B.

I can't say for certain, but if the thieves targeted certain trains and accessories and left others, ended up taking items that were the most expensive, then it is unlikely these were common thieves on a smash and grab. They could be thieves knowledgeable about the value of certain toy trains, they could be people who were asked to steal certain items that a collector wanted, they could be collectors themselves (though I doubt it is the last one). If it was someone breaking in who didn't know, they would do a smash and grab, not pick out certain items, smash and grab artists get as much as they can, figuring they can fence it based on the quantity.

 

As far as being able to find the perpetrators, it may not be easy to trace this, unless these were really rare items, where let's say there are only a couple known in existence, that could be true, since if someone attempts to sell something rare, it is likely whoever they sell it to will know it is rare. But it isn't like there is a registry of toy trains, and they don't really have identifying marks on them that would make tracing them easy (there might be a serial number of some of the stuff, but was it recorded).

 

It could be that the thieves, unlike the impression I am getting, basically grabbed a lot of stuff fast, then it could be morons thinking "old things in a museum=money", of course, and you might see them getting busted when they try to sell it to a store or something like that, but I suspect based on what little I have seen that this may have been a targeted theft of specific stuff. 

 

While in many ways it is different than toy trains, in the art world and rare musical instruments thefts are generally targeted, thieves steal stuff knowing there is a private collector who wants the piece or item for his/her collection, because stealing such items without knowing someone wants it and will buy it is too risky. If you steal a rare violin, like a stradiverius, the minute they tried to sell that to a shop or tried to sell it at auction, they would be busted, because strads are all accounted for, they are well known; if you tried to steal a valuable painting and tried to sell it, it would get you busted, for the same reasons, it is  impossible to liquidate it, unless you have a collector willing to pay enough to make it worth the risk. 

I am not aware that "toy" trains have serial numbers, but this sounds like a good reason they should, maybe not every plastic car, but locomotives, such as the

"Big Boy", and all of the others.  Might make for interesting history recording, too,

as to how many were made, etc.  This would not help for items made in the past,

but for the future... it might discourage some thefts.  Would beat your grinding your

name into the frame of whatever with an engraving tool.

 

At age 72 in today's world, NOTHING surprises me anymore. 

Didn't this museum havr cameras? Seriously, with the thousands of dollars worth of trains bring displayed you think the museum would buy a security video system.

I think they found the culprit...

 

 

Sorry but some body had to it

Not this house.  If a criminal breaks in to take the trains, it is he who has to be scared.  Weapons would be completely useless against the fortified defenses that I put in place.  I prefer not to say more but I'll provide a small hint- think level 3 military spec body armor 

I am protected by S&W, Mr. Luger & Mr.Colt.

So requesting a bit of reading and comprehension wasn't called for, regardless of age?

IMO can really only protect against the casual opportunist - kids, druggies and transients - and they're usually easily deterred by well locked doors and lighting. Even if they did break in not likely they'd hall off with relatively big/heavy trains - they want cash or something cool or easy to sell (watches, jewelry, smart devices, guns, etc.).

 

Guns aren't worth much unless you're there and dogs can make noise but unless trained they aren't going to be effective attackers. Is someone is there to steal trains it means it's an inside job on one level or another (as many/most planned robberies are) so they'd likely already know/have a good idea how to defeat countermeasures. Thus, my plan is good locks, good lighting and good documentation for insurance .